Equestria and the Time Lord Episode 9: The Golden Star
by The Orwellian Writer
Summary: Puzzlehunt and Trixie are captured and end up in the tribe of ponies who are kidnapping unicorns. And sure enough, The Doctor is there too. He meets the leader of the tribe, who is somebody he already knows. The tribe is preparing for the return of the god they worship, and he will consume the planet when he comes. The Doctor is to be sacrificed and his friends will be converted.
1. Prologue: Kidnap

_Author's note: Some think that after the last episode, this series is almost over. Not even close really. There's still tons more to come. On to Episode 9!_

Equestria and the Time Lord Episode 9: The Golden Star

Prologue: Kidnap

**=Gaia, Equestria, Baltimare, The Streets of Baltimare, Trixie's Trailer, 1003 C.E. =**

Trixie was sleeping in the trailer she had made her home. Suddenly, she woke up and got out of bed, levitating a brush to put her hair back into place. She looked out the only window in the really tiny trailer, which was positioned so she would see the time from a nearby clock shop. Her eyes popped open.

"Oh my gosh, I'm going to be late for my show!" she said to her self in her panic. She grabbed her hat and cape and ran out of the trailer as fast as she possibly could.

She was running so fast she practically flew. Unfortunately, she forgot to look where she was going, and of course ran into somepony. Hard.

As she picked herself up, she looked over to the rather angered looking stallion he had ran into, who was dusting off his hat, muttering to himself.

She remembered the Doctor's advice he had given to her two months ago. "I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay." Said Puzzlehunt as he stood up and put his hat back on his head.

"I have to go somewhere." Trixie said as she began to walk away.

"I was heading somewhere myself." Said Puzzlehunt as he walked off in the opposite direction."

And in their hurry, they didn't stop to say goodbye. But as it turned out, they didn't really need to.

**=Gaia, Equestria, The Forests Outside of Baltimare, 1003 C.E. =**

A while later, Puzzlehunt whistled to himself, examining carvings that had been made on the nearby trees around him.

Suddenly, a Pegasus with an annoyed expression came through. He had a navy blue coat, orange eyes, the cutie mark of a hot air balloon, and wore a pilot's hat over his hair.

"Why are you still here?" Puzzlehunt said irritably. As you can see, he didn't learn that much from his encounter with the Doctor.

"If I remember correctly, its because you pay me to fly you and a hot air balloon wherever you want to go because you don't want to bother with walking. What's the reason you don't just teleport to places?" the stallion said angrily.

"Because then you wouldn't get paid." Puzzlehunt said snidely.

The stallion grumbled, not being able to argue with that kind of logic.

Puzzlehunt continued to examine the trees. "This one here says that the tribe that lived in this area long ago used an early form of tranquilizer darts. Wonder what that was like?"

Instantly a dart hit the stallion in the neck. Almost immediately, he slumped down to the ground.

Puzzlehunt then jumped to the side to avoid one that tried to hit him.

"I was just asking for that wasn't I?" he grumbled, irritated.

He dodged more darts and began to run out of the forest. He then realized something his pilot had told him. And so, he teleported away, absolutely certain this didn't make him safe.

**=Gaia, Equestria, Baltimare, The Baltimare Theater, Backstage, 1003 C.E. =**

Trixie was sitting down backstage, reading a newspaper. She should have been practicing for her show, but she didn't think she needed any. As you can see, she didn't really learn that much from her encounter with the Doctor.

She also wasn't interested in the article about the mass and mysterious kidnappings of unicorns all over Equestria. That would turn out to be quite a mistake.

As she walked out on to the stage smiling at the not too large crowd of pones that had come to see her, she prepared to begin performing, when all of a sudden…

Puzzlehunt appeared in a flash of light in the middle of the stage. He looked around until he saw where he was. His ears fell to the sides of is head, his eyes grew very small, and all the words he had meant to say died in his mouth in his panicked horror.

"What are you doing here?" Trixie yelled at him. "Get off my stage!"

Puzzlehunt finally found something to say. "Um yes, I'll just go now. You can all go back to your own devices now…"

And then he was hit by a tranquilizer dart.

"Or maybe you should all run for your lives." Puzzlehunt said as he passed out and collapsed.

A collective scream ran through the theater.

Trixie, being up on the stage, might as well have been wearing a target, and was quickly hit by a dart and passed out as well.

The crowd screamed and tried to run out of the theater, but sure enough they were all hit before they could even move through the panic.

Then creatures that looked exactly like ponies but were all green and had no cutie mark came out and took every single unicorn out of the crowd and used a special pill to make sure that none of the ponies the didn't kidnap would remember anything, and then left.

**=An Unknown Location, 1003 C.E. =**

All the newly kidnapped ponies were tied together in groups of two. One of these groups happened to be Puzzlehunt and Trixie, who slowly began to wake u and realized where they are. But they couldn't tell where they are. All they could see were groups of tied unicorns and a door nearby. And they also saw the green ponies moving the groups along one at a time. And they both automatically had the exact same thought.

"I know somepony that would almost certainly be here right about now." Puzzlehunt said.

"I don't believe in waiting for others to help me, but I know the same kind of pony." Trixie said.

And then the door began to slide open. More of the green ponies walked into the room, and they carried somepony else along with them.

"Puzzlehunt! Trixie! Nice to see you again!" said the Doctor as he was led in to the room in chains.


	2. Chapter 1: The Velvet Web

Chapter 1: The Velvet Web

**=Unknown Location, 1003 C.E. =**

"Yes, very nice to see you again." Said The Doctor. "And it's a funny story how I came to be here. It was just after I had left Traken, and I felt the need to visit this dimension again. Oh sorry, the last time we met, the circumstances made it so I didn't have any time to tell you that I was an alien being from another dimension. Oh well. Anyway, so I left my companion Adric in a bazaar on an asteroid and told him I'd be back in five minutes. I did this because I wasn't sure that his body could survive contending into another shape. Anyway, I did my best to hit Canterlot in 1003 C.E. but I found this place in the way, and wasn't met with a very warm reception by the natives around here. As it turns out, they're all rather insane around here. They don't like jelly babies! So, it wasn't long before I ended up in prison."

Trixie and Puzzlehunt both looked him with wide eyes, trying to comprehend all the information they had been given as they stared at the Doctor. He looked slightly different than the last time. Instead of his multicolored scarf, he was wearing a burgundy scarf, and his coat actually had a slightly burgundy tint to it as well along with the brown.

The Doctor then slipped out of the chains like it was he easiest thing he had ever done, but was quickly grabbed by several of the green ponies who dragged him along. And because he had talked to them, Puzzlehunt and Trixie were dragged along as well.

"Thanks a lot for this, Doctor." Puzzlehunt said.

They were led into another room, where several of the green ponies were looking devotedly up to the ceiling. Puzzlehunt and Trixie both followed their example and gasped.

The ceiling was made of glass. But not just any glass, an incredibly long range magnifying glass. And what they saw through it was their own home planet, Gaia.

They were standing on another planet.

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, Outside The Great Observatory, The Crypt of the Grand Prophet, 1003 C.E. =**

The Grand Prophet, as the green ponies knew him, was looking through another magnifying glass, watching the sky for any new developments. He looked to see the writings from an ancient book that he was entrusted to keep. He had written the book, as the writings told. He was immortal.

Suddenly, a small light crept into the room, illuminating the room which was revealed to be as lavishly decorated as physically possible on this planet, where there wasn't much gold to be found beneath its soil, but there was some gold decorating the room.

"Get away! Get away!" The Grand Prophet shouted, his voice sounding like it wasn't his actual one.

"I beg forgiveness! Grand Prophet, please, PLEASE! One of or scientists has something to say that you must know! As told in the book!" The green pony shouted through the night into a small hole in the crypt, which was 500 feet away from the observatory.

"The stars will bring no forgiveness to you!" The Grand Prophet shouted.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The green pony screamed horribly as a yellow light struck his body, which was quickly reduced to nothing but a pile of ash.

Then another yellow light glowed from the top of the building and traversed into the observatory.

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Great Observatory, the Record Rooms, 1003 C.E. =**

The green pony scientist looked skyward as the beam of yellow light hit him and engulfed him.

"_**Speak now. What are you to say? Speak!" **_

"_The Doctor is here! He has come! And he knows two named Puzzlehunt and Trixie!" _The scientist said, his body and voice shaking from the influence of the beam.

"_**Then you know what you must do! Carry out all your life is meant for!"**_

"_Yes! I will do it! In service of the…the…" _The scientist could no longer speak, the beam about to kill him.

Then the beam disappeared from the room, leaving the scientist to stand stoically despite his body being almost dead. He walked stiffly out of the room. "As it is written, all shall continue." He said as he left.

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Great Observatory, The Launching Bay, 1003 C.E. =**

The Doctor had been dragged away from his two friends into a different room. All that was in it was a control panel, and a conveyer belt that led to a tube that held an actual rocket in it. The Doctor's hooves were then sealed down to the conveyor belt.

The green ponies began to chant some sort of important ritual. "The Stars themselves are coming here. They are alive, and they are returning. They will come in a chosen form, and they will consume us all into them. Then it will know all that we knew. It will be all that we were. But until then they must be fed. So we offer forth this man, the Great Sacrifice as foretold."

The Doctor then realized what was happening: They were going to launch him into a star, and he would burn up with no regeneration.

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Great Observatory, The Conversion Room, 1003 C.E. =**

Puzzlehunt and Trixie would have made up a sarcastic or snide comment by now, but they were too surprised at the prospect of actually being on another planet to think of anything. An early green glow bathed on them as they were strapped to a vertical table and attached a series of wires all over their body.

"What's going to happen to us?" Trixie said, genuinely afraid.

"Your memories will be erased. Your horns will disappear, you won't need them." To demonstrate, the green pony levitated over a wire without a horn at all. "Your bodies will change. You will be one of us." Then, the green pony finished putting on the wires and walked over to a control panel, which would automatically begin the process at the push of a small red button.

Puzzlehunt and Trixie looked forward at the button with mind-boggling terror at what was about to happen to them.

Then the button was pushed, the procedure began, and they began to scream out in pain.


	3. Chapter 2: The Web Planet

Chapter 2: The Web Planet

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Great Observatory, The Launching Bay, 1003 C.E. =**

The Doctor drummed his hooves to the ground as the conveyor belt moved rather slowly towards the rocket. He knew full well that they were probably doing this on purpose to make him more afraid of them, which they weren't doing a very good job, as evident by his lack of fear as they hoisted him up from the conveyor belt and put him into the rocket. Before he had time to do anything, they shut the door and triple sealed it, leaving him completely locked inside.

Before he pulled out his sonic screwdriver, he noticed a red button with a speaker above that he supposed was an intercom that allowed him to talk to he outside the rocket world, so he pressed it. He noted that there were no other buttons at his disposal, and it was all heavily automated. As it buzzed and opened communications, he asked, " How come you decided to sacrifice me specifically?"

"The Grand Prophet, who speaks in the voice of the stars themselves to guide us forever through to the end of our meaning of existence!" was the reply.

"Yes, but who is the Grand Prophet?" The Doctor asked.

"Oh, that shouldn't be much of a mystery, Doctor." Said a familiar voce through the intercom.

The Doctor turned to the window to see Mystery walking into the room, grinning innocently at him. He looked the same as ever, only he was wearing white robes that didn't really suit him at all. "What are you doing here?" he asked angrily.

"I don't need to tell you anything that I know this time Doctor. If you've forgotten, you're the one locked in a rocket aimed towards the sun." Mystery said.

"But I know you're one to gloat, so how did you get here?" The Doctor said.

Mystery glared at him. "Oh I think it would be more entertaining to leave you dying with questions."

"But there are some things you want to tell me, things that will give you more entertainment out of this in the very long run, I'm guessing." The Doctor said, trying to squeeze some information out.

"Your attitude, though, is making me not want to tell you now." Mystery said rather angrily.

"Oh really, but you'll end up regretting it sometime in the near future when the big master plan you have puts on top of all others." The Doctor said, still trying to get Mystery to tell him something through the power of persuasion.

"Perhaps I will, but I'll take solace in the fact that the ends have justified the means, and you'll still be dead." Mystery said as he looked impatiently towards the control panel that controls the rocket and launches it up.

"Not quite so. You'll still need to tell someone about this once you've made it to the top due to your gloating, but you'll likely have already killed everypony, and you'll remember that you could have told me long ago." The Doctor said.

Mystery knew exactly what the Doctor was doing, but he was extremely frustrated at that present second. "All right, fine! After my brother dropped me on this planet, a large energy surge transported it across the galaxy to here, understand?"

"I see." Said The Doctor. "What about all the machines?"

"Not only did I retain the hunger I had, but the information I gained. In one ponies mind it would be just a bunch of nonsensical bit of information, but I was able to put the puzzle pieces together to discover how to build…" he gestured around him. "All of this. I feed myself and power this place with the large stores of energy that was imbedded in this planet." Mystery explained begrudgingly.

"Seems to make perfect sense to me." Said The Doctor. "And a couple of other things left to ask. Where do all your green ponies that you've fooled into helping you out with your evil schemes come from in the first place?"

Mystery grinned at him. "I think I might as well tell you that with a few visual aids." He said as he stamped his hoof to the ground. "Bring in the newest conversions!"

And then two green ponies walked into the room.

The Doctor's eyes widened in shock. "Puzzlehunt. Trixie."

And sure enough, it was Puzzlehunt and Trixie, but their horns and cuie marks were gone, they had turned a green color, and there was a dissolute, trance like expression on their faces.

"And don't attempt to say anything to them. Their minds have been programmed to forget any information that might turn them against me. Plus, they're in a total mindless trancelike state until their minds readapt." Mystery said as he grinned evilly once again.

"How… how did you do it?" The Doctor said, still a bit shocked at how this had happened.

"One of the items I learned how to make was a makeshift chameleon arch, which really comes in quite handy along the way.

"I will…" The Doctor trailed off. "Why do you have to do it?"

No answer came, only shackles, which sealed him down to the seat in preparation for takeoff, which would kill him quite quickly if he wasn't buckled down to the seat.

"And to add insult to injury…" Mystery said. "You two start the launch program."

Puzzlehunt and Trixie walked over to the control panel stiffly and began to press buttons on it.

The Doctor couldn't do anything as the rocket began to lift upwards, shaking violently.

Then it shot upwards at incredibly high speeds, eventually shooting out of the tube and into open sky. The Doctor couldn't bring himself to look out the window or he would have been very sick, and eventually decided to simply black out for a time to avoid the rush.

Mystery watched as the rocket disappeared into the sky, and opened communications with it just in case.

The rocket broke out of the planet's atmosphere, went through its orbit, and moved forward on its one way path to the sun.


	4. Chapter 3: Priest of Death

Chapter 3: Priest of Death

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Great Observatory, The Launching Bay, 1003 C.E. =**

Mystery continued to look skywards long after the Doctor had vanished from view. Then, he walked over to a smaller tube, which contained a much smaller rocket than the other, placed a tube which was filled with the ashes of the pony he had recently killed, sealed it up, and shot that off into space as well, and moved away from the tube. He turned to Puzzlehunt and Trixie, who he knew were now both completely under his control. Thoughts ran through his mind as he closed his eyes to allow the thoughts to conform into an idea. His eyes opened and his lips curled into a smile as he walked over to them slowly.

**=Deep Space, 600 Miles Away from the Presently Unnamed Planet, The Rocket, 1003 C.E. =**

The rocket, the minute it had shot through the planets orbit, began to slow down so that it was only just moving for a sense to savor the impending fear and doom that would surely grasp a pony as he flew towards the sun and his untimely demise that none would know anything about once it was done and over with.

The Doctor had not yet been taken by this feeling as he had only just woken up and had not yet quite registered where he was yet.

But even when he had, he was not afraid, he knew what he was doing. Plus, space was in fact quite mystifying to him, as he reached down into his pocket and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. How ever, when he tried to use it, he discovered a small incision on it that cut several vital wires on it. He scowled and pressed the communications button.

"What do you want?" Mystery said as he whistled to himself.

"I see you've truly thought of everything about now." The Doctor said.

"Yes, including the fact that you're enclosed from all the controls and you're being shot to your doom automatically, without true control over where you're going." Mystery said.

"You're a psychopath, you know. Completely violently insane." The Doctor said.

"They say it isn't a good idea to compliment your enemies." Mystery said uncaringly.

The Doctor sighed and looked out the window. Space was beautiful and all, but a dizzy feeling quickly overtook him as he looked away, breathing heavily.

"I don't have much to say to you, Doctor." Said Mystery. "I'm only keeping in touch with you for the assurance of your death I'm uncertain if I'll even get. Good bye. I'll be talking to you again in the span of an hour that you left to live, give about 10 minutes or so."

The Doctor wasn't looking forward to that.

As his eyes darted around, he looked for something that would save him from death with plenty of time to spare. He began with the rather pathetic plan of kicking at the walls to remove the covering for the controls so he could pilot the ship away.

In the process though, he rather foolishly unbuckled his seatbelt. The rocket began to hit turbulence and began spinning around, and he fell to the floor until sickness passed over him once again. He was finding escape to be more difficult than he had expected. He continued to lie there, although he continued to kick at the casing for the controls in hope to dislodge it as he continued to lie there, trying not to throw up, which was not something Time Lords did at all. He breathed heavily again, and cursed the lack of fresh air in both space and this rocket.

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Great Observatory, A Sequestered Room, 1003 C.E. =**

Mystery strode out of a room with a terrifying smile on his face. He walked out of the hallways, still baring that terrifying grin.

Shortly after, Trixie walked out of the room, rubbing her head until she snapped back to her programming and began to set her mind into the post given to her by Mystery. She had already forgotten the events of what happened in that room as she walked away.

Meanwhile, Mystery walked his way over to Puzzlehunt, not entirely certain what he should do to him. It certainly had to be original completely. He shrugged it off. Just the fact that he had his brother in this position would tide him over until he thought of something different as his thoughts began to turn into another idea. He walked out of the room as his smile faded as he tried to find another empty room in the place so no one would look and there and see… He suspended his thoughts and continued to walk through the halls, his dark thoughts grinding away.

He passed Trixie, but no longer had the desire to look at her. He continued his thoughts as he found the room he was looking for and locked himself inside.

**=Deep Space, A Long Way Away From the Presently Unnamed Planet, The Rocket, 1003 C.E. =**

The Doctor had given up on the possibility of Mystery opening communications with him again, but he didn't actually care too much about that. He was still trying to kick the casing loose, but was now using his sonic screwdriver, which was useless otherwise, as a crowbar to attempt to pry it open, and was actually making some progress with it.

Finally, he was able to move it far enough to try to push it with his hooves. And he was completely exhausted from the strength needed to move the metal casing this far.

Mercifully, he casing popped right off at that moment, and he crouched down to look through the wires and systems for something he could use to gain control of the rocket. He pulled out a wire, hoping to make it just stop in place where it was.

Unfortunately, that wasn't what happened to him. The rocket began to shake violently, and he Doctor was tossed around the chamber violently.

He had disengaged an important function on it. It was now falling directly into the Sun faster then it had ever done before, as it closed in on it, about to enter the zone of the Sun that would burn him up.


	5. Chapter 4: the Sun Makers

Chapter 4: The Sun Makers

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Great Observatory, A Sequestered Room, 1003 C.E. =**

Mystery was now in the process of indulging himself in a series of intensive calculations. Golden ether rose through the floor and danced around him as he maneuvered in rather like a computer screen. He factored in the position of the stars around him as he had seen, and he was completely finished.

"There we are." Mystery said. "The stars return to a visible area in 10 hours from now. Now lets work out the way that the beam must hit to project energy into the correct angle."

The golden ether continued to rise through the floor as he looked over his work to find he could use.

"Perfect. The converts all believe the stars will gleefully consume hem when they come. But I have no intention of that happening this time around." He said.

And he lifted the golden ether up above him with powerful intensity.

"This will deplete the energy reserves stored in this planet, but it will create a flare to replenish them back to normal, if I am correct about the gas content of this planetary system's Sun."

And then the golden ether consumed the whole room and shot upwards as a huge beam of energy at high speeds.

**=Outer Space, A Short Distance From Dangerously Close To The Sun, The Rocket, 1003 C.E. =**

The Doctor felt himself getting very hot as the rocket spun closer to the Sun as he was wildly thrown around the cockpit. Then, his head smashed into something.

And, just like that, the rocket regained control and stopped in place. The Doctor had hit his head on the navigation controls and unlocked them. He smiled and crouched down to make some sort of steering wheel to make it back to the planet and rescue his friends before certain death hit them all.

As he began to fashion something, though, a large golden beam hit the sun behind him, and the sun just went dead as a large orange light coursed from it into space, while the rest of it made an incredibly large solar flare that extended outwards across the rest of space.

The rocket managed to survive this, though, without being able to hear and only having limited visibility of what was going on outside around him. Although, the rocket was quickly pulled along as all the solar energy began to course towards the unnamed planet that he was heading towards.

He finished the steering wheel and began to gracefully navigate along the bumpy storm of solar energy. He watched as the planet Gaia literally stopped in its orbit and iced over, frozen in time by some presently unknown intervention.

He sighed as he continued along, breathing steadily to exercise that he was completely still alive. He continued breathing as the rocket rode along the solar energy, and the solar energy rode towards his destination.

He was going to make it back no matter what happened to him, and that was all he knew at the moment.

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Great Observatory, A Sequestered Room, 1003 C.E. =**

Mystery fell to the ground, panting and coughing wildly. The hunger nearly killed him before the solar energy reached him once again. He opened his mouth, revealing sharp teeth. He stalked out of the room angrily.

A green pony passed by him, leading Mystery to grab him. The teeth instilled a fear in the green pony that was too great for him to move at all.

Green energy tendrils shot out of Mystery's mouth and touched the green pony, quickly reducing him to nothing but dust sitting on the floor.

Fully satisfied, Mystery stood up and walked out of the hallways into the room where the green ponies were monitoring the frozen in time planet of Gaia.

"Yes, can't have them all dying out yet." Mystery muttered as all the green ponies bowed down to him as if he was the most wonderful thing in the infinite universe, which they believed he was (besides the stars).

And so, a portion of the solar energy and began to swirl into a great artificial Sun to warm Gaia up until its, in his mind, inevitable destruction that was very soon to come forth.

He walked out of the room, out of the observatory, pushed through the jungle until he got to his little crypt a few hundred feet away from he idiotic converts he had to live with by his choice. He walked into the room and pulled out the book that gave the green ponies a prophecy, and, from their point of view, a purpose in their lives.

But what it actually was just so happened to be a simple really long check list that he had made for himself. He looked over it, when into the later pages, and checked several more boxes, wearing an expressionless face.

**=Outer Space, Close to The Presently Unnamed Planet, the Rocket, 1003 C.E. =**

When the trail of solar energy began to collect into a miniature sun, the Doctor was quickly thrown directly off of it and deep into the middle of space.

He quickly began to maneuver around in space, aiming for the planet he was headed for. It was clear, though, that he was never going to make it to the observatory in the rocket. And so, he aimed for it as close as he could.

He flailed slightly as it no longer became possible to aim anywhere comprehensible.

So, he waited for impact. He knew full well that he was now going far too fast to survive impact. He broke through the atmosphere, and began the 100 mile drop down to the ground.

"Got to think of something quick." Was what the Doctor muttered to himself as the ground came up very fast.

And so he kicked at the window. After a minute, he shattered it.

1 mile away from the ground. And then, the rocket made impact and hit the ground with a great crash.


	6. Chapter 5: The Face of Evil

Chapter 5: The Face of Evil

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Jungles, Just Outside the Tribe of Savages, 1003 C.E. =**

The Doctor felt the breath knocked out of him as he hit the treetop, but he was otherwise unscathed. He watched as the rocket slammed into a clearing behind him and exploded, sending out a vibration that very nearly shook the tree he was on loose.

After all the vibrations passed, though, he began to climb down from the tree, fighting his dizziness waves that had been passing through since he jumped out of the rocket and landed in this tree. He made it to the bottom and began walking, breathing heavily and trying to walk in a straight line.

As he looked forward, he saw what looked like a small tribe close by. He looked farther ahead and saw the observatory. He knew which would be the safer path, but curiosity got the better of him and he walked towards the tribe, keeping his head down so he wouldn't be seen and automatically killed. Actually, they would probably torture him a bit beforehand and during, but he didn't actually care that much as he walked directly into it, hiding as he went along.

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Great Observatory, The Conversion Room, 1003 C.E. =**

A green pony, at the command of Mystery continued to look at the wiring behind the conversion tables. A figurative light bulb went over his head and he walked into another room, where a large tank of blue energy that was connected to the tables by wires. He quickly plugged the wires in, but this time in the opposite direction as they were originally. A beam of golden energy hit him in the head.

"_**Is it ready?"**_ Mystery asked through the beam.

"_Yes it is. It is exactly right."_ The green pony said as the beam vanished.

Mystery smiled from his current position. Quickly, he sent out a barrage of messages in all directions. "Now. Bring more potential converts to me. And this time, pick the planet dry. Await further orders." He smiled. It was almost complete. He was getting so close. He checked over his list, and looked for independent variables. He then looked over what he planned to do if said variables took place. He walked out of the crypt to check over all the systems for the final time before it all ended. He took a deep breath. He was unsure if this would work actually. He knew there was a 50-50 chance. He knew that the failing point of most plans was assuming they couldn't fail. He shrugged it off.

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Tribe of the Savages, Near the Center of the Tribe, 1003 C.E. =**

The Doctor observed as a group of the green ponies gathered at the center of the tribe, watching a pony who had stepped to the front.

"We come here, as always, in service of the Grand Prophet, the one who brings word of the coming of the stars. He, who is imprisoned by the Scientists in the observatory!" Said the green pony.

"_Interesting. They look like the Swampies but have a culture similar to the Sevateem and the Tesh." _The Doctor observed in his thoughts.

"But he says it no longer matters. He says that the stars will assume form in one hour!" The leader said.

A grand cheer roared through the air.

The Doctor perked up. He only had one hour. He had to make his way back quickly.

Unfortunately, he snapped a twig as he ran away. All the heads in the tribe darted his way, and he knew that they couldn't see him, but knew where he was.

Okay, this was very bad. He decided that being careful was no longer even a remotely smart option, so he just ran really fast, trying to get away from them very fast. Unfortunately, they followed very fast as well.

He managed to get out of the tribe and went into a patch of jungle, hoping he could shake them off there. Of course, they probably knew the jungles better than he did, but it was nice to have something to fall back on as the tribe members followed after him, continuing to go the same speed as him.

He hoped he wouldn't be caught so quickly as he flipped his way through the trees, taking no time to navigate.

And naturally, he was caught within 10 seconds.

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Great Observatory, The Conversion Room, 1003 C.E. =**

Mystery looked over the earth pony that was strapped to the table, unconscious. "So you've rewired it so that some of the leftover energy will go back into her body and convert her like a unicorn, is that right?" he asked.

"Indeed, Grand Prophet." Said the green pony.

"No guarantee it will work, though?" he asked.

"She could well die." Said the scientist.

Mystery almost instantly pressed the button. He casually ignored the pained screams and smiled to the scientist, grinning sadistically, treating the continued screaming like it was beautiful music. In fact, he seemed disappointed when 10 minutes later it was all over. He smiled again though when he looked up and it had, in fact, worked perfectly.

"There we are. Let's go ahead then. We're reaching the end here."

He walked out of the room. He looked at Puzzlehunt and Trixie, who were frozen in place. He eyed them, and walked into the observatory room, looking up into he sky with a grim smile.

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Tribe of the Savages, The Center of the Tribe, 1003 C.E. =**

The Doctor had not been very cooperative as he was dragged back to his sacrifice. But then, who really would? Anyway, he had been tie down to a stone pillar facing the night sky.

He wasn't sure what they were doing, but they had mentioned something about him being the first to go when the stars took form. So he played along and looked upwards into the sky, knowing that if something was going to come, it would come now.

"Oh dear." He said.

It had the exact same face as Puzzlehunt. It looked like a connect-the-dots figure, but it was made up of gigantic stars. And it was more mind-bogglingly big than you could possibly imagine.


	7. Chapter 6: The Savages

Chapter 6: The Savages

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Tribe of the Savages, The Sacrificial Altar, 1003 C.E. =**

The Doctor quickly slipped out of the ropes like it was nothing. He refused to take his eyes off the massive being above him. That is, until he stole a glance at the tribe behind him. Luckily, they were too distracted looking at their God with a stupefied look on their face. Of course, that was understandable. He began to continue running towards the observatory, but still looking up at the being that was made of stars. He knew he wouldn't have to worry about the tribe anymore. They had probably already forgotten he had existed. He continued on. He had to hurry.

Suddenly, a large earthquake shook the entire planet, knocking down trees and nearly leveling the tribe behind him. A crack began to open up near him, but slowly, it began to abate back to normal level. The Doctor then realized it was no earthquake, but the being in the sky trying to talk.

The being must have realized this, because it lowered its voice to what to it was a barely audible whisper, but was still booming and nearly shattered the Doctor's eardrums.

"**WHERE… WHERE ARE… WHERE ARE THEY? WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS THE DOCTOR?"**

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Great Observatory, The Magnifying Room, 1003 C.E. =**

They all heard it. It was impossible not to, it nearly shattered the whole planet. And Mystery, in an ironic way, was the only one who didn't care. He strutted around, beginning to give the commands to the remaining green ponies to begin running the necessary computer programs. In other words, he gave all the remaining work to Puzzlehunt and Trixie, who, if they were currently capable of such things, would be totally exhausted. They couldn't even complain though. They couldn't speak unless he opened communications with them. He trotted over to a series of switches connected to an energy pocket. It was what allowed all of the green pony converts he had sent down to Gaia to come back. He switched it off for now. This would certainly be fun.

He waited for the being above, who cared what its name was, to speak again. He had nothing better to do for a while, that much was clear. It took time to run all the programs he had assigned to Puzzlehunt and Trixie.

"**WHERE IS THE DOCTOR? I…HELP… KILL... HUNGER… OR BRING…"**

Apparently the being hadn't fully mastered speech yet. Mystery sighed. This was absolutely pointless. He wouldn't be able to get information from this or anything useful.

"**WHERE IS THE DOCTOR? I NEED HELP TO KILL MYSTERY. KILL THE HUNGER. OR BRING DEATH TO THIS PLANET…"**

Now that was useful. Mystery began to lay low a bit more. He had no intention of getting killed quite yet. It angered him that he couldn't get this done now. He wanted to quench himself like he never could the last time he met the Doctor. The Doctor. He barely cared about the Doctor. He got rid of him quite quickly the last time. Only survived by the narrowest of margins. It was his brother that sent him to this miserable planet. And, at its previous position, time moved faster here than on Gaia. It had only been 3 months for his brother, but he could see the gray hairs beading in to his perfect black mane. And anyway, look at the state he had gotten his brother in now. He was totally under his control. HE HAD COME OUT ON TOP! He sighed. He really needed to stop worrying about the petty need to be above his younger brother if he truly wanted to come out on top. He had to focus on the whole not caring what others thought of him thing.

He walked over and locked himself in yet another room designed specifically for him. In fact almost every room was designed for him and not for anypony else due to general narcissism.

=**Presently Unnamed Planet, The Jungles Nearby The Great Observatory, 1003 C.E. =**

The Doctor watched the being above as the observatory appeared in his line of vision.

"**HELP… THE DOCTOR WILL HELP…HELP ME OR I WILL CONTINUE WITH THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PLANET AND THE UNIVERSE IN GENERAL. REPLY IN ANYWAY YOU FIND POSSIBLE. I REPAEAT, PLEASE REPLY."**

The Doctor knew of one way he could reply, but it wasn't going to be very easy. He could reply if could get back to the TARDIS, which was in the same place that he was currently headed anyway. Good then. Now, he just had to make it through. Plus, there was still at least a mile away from the observatory anyway. He kept walking. He realized he didn't even know about any of the entrances to the place. He had only come one way: by the TARDIS, and he had only left through the rocket hole. Other than that, he knew nothing about any of the entrances to the place. Then, all of a sudden, he smiled in recognition.

About 10 minutes, later, he dropped down the rocket hole, stopping his fall every now and then, until he got to the bottom and slid out, walking through the halls. He didn't know which to find first, the TARDIS, or his friends.

He decided it was best to go for his friends first, as he scouted his way through the hallways, looking about for anything that was essential for him to use.

He found the door to what was definitely the conversion room. He opened the door to it and walked up to the conversion tables. He began following the wires coming from it until he reached the tank of blue energy. Actually, it was rapidly shifting colors. He deduced that the programming made it so you could still use magic without your horns, but it only worked with unicorns. Any 'magic' amount over the set level was collected in this tank here. He found other wires leading from the tank leading to multiple shelves of glowing blue orbs.

When he realized what they were, he smiled and began to look through them.

But all of a sudden, he was hit by an energy blast that began to continuously attack at vital parts of his body.

It was Puzzlehunt and Trixie. They had found him and were following orders to protect Mystery…at the expense of his life.


	8. Chapter 7: The Abandoned Planet

Chapter 7: The Abandoned Planet

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Great Observatory, Personality Imprint Collection Room, 1003 C.E. =**

The physiology of a Time Lord is much more complex than a pony's. As such, The Doctor was able to withstand an energy attack for much longer than Puzzlehunt and Trixie expected him to. But, just for safety, he let himself lay there right on the floor for a couple minutes so neither of them would suspect anything until he made his final assault. He certainly hoped he would stay there until he was completely ready. He watched them as carefully as he could.

And luckily enough, they did. They stayed by the orbs, loosening them. He looked at the inscriptions on them carefully. He waited until they went over to the ones pertaining to them. Then he quickly ran over and smashed them over their mouths. Even though he didn't need to, he held them there.

It muffled the screams of pain and the sounds of bone crunching.

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Great Observatory, Just Outside the Personality Imprint Collection Room, 1003 C.E. =**

Trixie regained consciousness to the feeling of every part of her body being incredibly sore. And until the pain abated, she remained in a state of only half-consciousness. And when said pain did abate, it took her a few minutes to register the sudden mental shock of remembrance. It nearly drove her back into unconsciousness. She sat up, and immediately, fell down to the ground again. After she spelled out her name again in her head, sitting up became slightly easier. She rubbed her temples, but she quickly needed to rub her hooves from trying. She no longer attempted to move. She instead attempted to think. She went through all her linguistics, and then began to replay all her memories from the first thing she could remember to the most recent thing…it was then that she napped to full consciousness. She started screaming quietly for a moment before she became fully registered with her surroundings.

The Doctor stood back. It had been 45 minutes since she began to wake up. Trixie and Puzzlehunt, who was waking up as well, would be utterly useless to help him.

"**MY NOURISHMENT IS NEEDED. BRING IT! BRING IT! I CAN FEEL WHERE IT IS!"**

The shock of this set their mental progress back quite a bit, except for the Doctor, who realized what the being was talking about.

He rushed into the room they had just been in, and quickly tried to reseal all the orbs. If he didn't, all the personalities would be eaten. As he got them sealed, he looked over to Puzzlehunt and Trixie, who were obviously too traumatized to be of help for quite a while. He decided it was best not to show them the gigantic star being for a while. They weren't even ready to move around yet. They were having a tough time climbing back up the mental ladder.

He wanted to examine them, but getting close did not have a good effect. He waited patiently. It didn't seem like anything would be happening anytime soon.

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Great Observatory, One of the Many Rooms, 1003 C.E. =**

It was when everything slowed to a stop that Mystery left the room. He realized that Puzzlehunt and Trixie were no longer there. He sighed.

"I guess I was expecting this." He said dully.

He began to walk through the vast controls of everything that would make this work. It would take him longer all by himself, but he would have to do this himself.

He pressed all the controls that were unfinished, there being few left to finish. The being would just have to wait. There were 38 minutes 12 seconds before the next set of controls, and there was something that he needed to take care of.

He flipped the very final control into place, and began to pull off his black robes that he could trip on with what he was doing now.

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, Just Outside the Great Observatory, The Jungles, 1003 C.E. =**

Puzzlehunt and Trixie were walking stiffly through the jungle, as the Doctor walked about, looking around profusely.

"What are you doing?" Puzzlehunt asked.

"Just gathering the necessary information. Formulating a plan in my head with all I've found out. I haven't really found anything out yet." The Doctor said.

"What's it about?" Puzzlehunt said.

"Don't you recall? You're supposed to retain the memory after you've changed back- Oh he really did think of everything. Wonderful. He wasn't going to let that slip." The Doctor reasoned to himself.

"Who?" Trixie asked.

"Mystery." The Doctor said bluntly as he walked along. "Right, that tree must be in that position for a reason.

"What?" Puzzlehunt asked.

"Your brother is the one behind this." The Doctor said.

"You mean-How is that possible?" Puzzlehunt said, barely able to process anything.

"He's here, doing bad things, and now there's a being made of stars up in the sky." The Doctor said as simply as possible.

The still not fully processing Puzzlehunt and Trixie looked up to the sky and stared at the shape in the stars with a blank expression.

The Doctor had to drag them along most of the way.

They walked around the perimeter. The Doctor was able to tell Trixie which way to go and she began to head off in the direction of the tribe. He continued to shout the directions at her as she walked away though. He hoped she would be back to normal somewhere along the way.

He dragged Puzzlehunt along, and slowly, they made their way to the crypt where Mystery spent most of his time.

When they got there, the Doctor went in, taking Puzzlehunt with him.

The place was simple yet decorated for a king at the same time. It actually seemed king of depressing in a way.

As he looked around, he found the book that Mystery used. He picked it up and began to look through it.

"Oh dear…" he said as he read what Mystery had planned next.

Then Mystery burst into the room. He aimed a gun upon them, and fired it several times.


	9. Chapter 8: The Temple of Evil

Chapter 8: The Temple of Evil

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Jungles, The Experimental Test, 1003 C.E. =**

Trixie regained her sense of balance and mental stability somewhere along the way, remembering where she was going. She wasn't very happy, and wanted to head back the way she came, but begrudgingly kept going forward. She suddenly felt a horrible itching on her front right hoof. She looked down and nearly collapsed.

There were numbers written all over her hoof, 1 to 22. And next to those faded marks were large lumps with red dots in the middle of them. They were needle marks. She didn't recall getting the shots, but she knew it must have happened shortly before the transformation. Wait a minute, they had placed all the wires over the injections. To get a formula into her system to keep the transition regulated, or something. But whatever it was, knowing they were there made her legs lock up instantly, and maybe it was just fear, but it took a lot to go forward.

But she did, and she was able to ignore it readily until the feeling just went away on its own. But as she congratulated herself on this, it came back, and nagged at her brain, and she couldn't ignore it. It was like a song stuck in your head, really. But with much more severe consequences. She tried to think that whatever it was in she had been injected with was gone from her body now. Against her better judgment, she looked down.

Her hoof, by now, was almost nothing but a bleeding swollen mass. This time, she really did collapse to the ground. After several more looks, she realized that she was hallucinating from the faint traces of whatever it was in her system.

She decided to pull herself off the ground. As she looked upwards, she saw the ruffle of the trees and several green ponies coming at her.

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, the Jungles, The Crypt of the Grand Prophet, 1003 C.E. =**

Mystery ran off in seconds, not even waiting to make sure they were dead. There was no time for that. He ran through the jungle, and blended in with a burst of green fire.

Of course, The Doctor certainly wasn't dead. And Puzzlehunt wasn't either. They got through remarkably unscathed. How did they do it?

The Doctor and Puzzlehunt reappeared some distance away, the bullets having missed them entirely before Puzzlehunt teleported them out of the way. "Now, he won't believe for on second that he actually killed us with that. He won't believe that until he has our vaporized remains in his line of vision permanently." The Doctor said cheerfully.

Puzzlehunt glared at him as he looked around. Besides bird chirps and insect chirps, he heard absolutely nothing around him. It seemed safe enough, but he would never really know until something happened. He sat down and tried to caress his mind back into working order.

The Doctor began to tell him the story of what had happened in a rapid fashion. After he was done with the so called story, he asked, "Now, can you teleport us back?"

Puzzlehunt looked at him. "If I knew where we were, I probably could." Puzzlehunt said. "But unfortunately, I don't, so I can't. Great, huh?" he said sarcastically.

"Well, then we figure it out. From what I read in that book, we don't have a lot of time. Come on." The doctor said.

Puzzlehunt sighed and walked after him. He noted that it should've been daytime, but the large celestial being made it look like nighttime. It was then that he processed the large celestial being in the sky. Taking several deep breaths, he tried not to panic massively.

"**I AM COMING CLOSER TO THE PLANET. YOU HAVE 30 MINUTES APPROXIMATELY BEFORE TOTAL PLANETFALL."**

Puzzlehunt began to panic slightly at this. He was really frightened by how loud that voice was. The Doctor wasn't impressed.

"Well then, let's go. Come on. Come on." The Doctor said, dragging him along, knowing that if he kept looking, they wouldn't get anywhere in a while.

"How long has that been there?" Puzzlehunt asked.

"Maybe 3 hours, I'm not sure. For a Time Lord, I lose track of time a lot." The Doctor said, realizing the irony of it.

And they continued to go along.

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Tribe of the Savages, 1003 C.E. =**

The star being was about to descend on this planet. He would destroy the temple of evil, take them into its body of light, and take the Grand Prophet.

The Temple of Evil was the observatory. They didn't know that, though, but they weren't likely to find out.

More green ponies arrived in the tribe as its population doubled. These ones were made from pegasi and earth ponies, but they didn't know that, and they weren't likely to find out.

And vomiting from the effects of an unknown chemical from where she was imprisoned was Trixie, but they didn't know her name, and they weren't likely to find out.

But she knew her name, and that was all she did know at the moment in her current circumstances, and that she was locked up and miserable. She took this out by yelling unkind things at her captors, but it didn't take long for her to get very sick again. Eventually, she gave up and began to look around for a way to escape, because she couldn't take these conditions any longer.

She looked around the prison she was stuck in. Really, it was just a hole in the ground. She used her magic to create a ladder, and she began to climb out. Recognizing how easy that was, she began to look around for what she had been sent here to find: information. She looked around, but did a much better job of keeping out of sight than the Doctor did. Which was very difficult for her. She watched as all of the green ponies began to get into a formation.

As they raised their hooves up into the air, the ground began to shake violently. Cracks opened up in the earth, and golden energy seeped up from it. The whole world seemed to be ready to crumble into pieces and dust…


	10. Chapter 9: The Final Phase

Chapter 9: The Final Phase

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, the Tribe of the Savages, The Gathering Zone, 1003 C.E. =**

Trixie felt the planet shake beneath her, and tried not to fall into the cracks that were opening up beneath her. She backed up from the cracks as they opened wider and wider, threatening to swallow not just her but everything on the surface of this planet. She found there was no more room for her to back up, and braced herself for what was coming.

The green pony tribe lowered their hooves down, and the rumbling subsided. The cracks stopped getting wider. But before she could sigh happily at her extreme good luck, a golden vapor began to pour its way out from the cracks, covering the ground around her. She decided that she had gotten enough information from the tribe to leave the place in a hurry. And that was what she did as she began to run away, around the cracks as best could and towards the edge of the tribe.

**=Presently Unnamed Planet, The Jungles, Unknown Location in the Jungles**, **1003 C.E. =**

As the Doctor and Puzzlehunt walked through the jungles, they decided that once the golden vapor from the cracks formed a fog over the ground, that maybe it was best to stop where they were. It was much more likely to fall into he cracks this way. As they stood there, they began to talk to each other. Or rather, The Doctor talked at Puzzlehunt as he sort of listened.

"Now, some time ago, I was able to work out where we actually were." The Doctor said.

"We're in the jungle. Weren't you paying attention?" Puzzlehunt said sarcastically.

"No, I mean I know what planet that we're on." The Doctor said.

"What is it then?" Puzzlehunt asked.

"This is Rallies 366. I remember it well. In the future, the Changelings were regressing ponies to a primitive state and leaving them there for a food source. They said it was a tactic used by the most evil pony criminal of all time, or one of them anyway. I think that was your brother." The Doctor explained.

"Mystery, the most evil pony criminal? I wouldn't doubt that for a single second." Puzzlehunt said.

Then the golden vapor began to rise up around them, as if it was trying to swallow them up distinctly. They decided to take their chances and got moving as quickly as they could through the jungle. The golden vapor was all around them and didn't seem to be giving them much of a chance to escape. They hurried on their way through the jungle of the presently named planet, avoiding being sucked down into the cracks.

**=Rallies 366, The Tribe of the Savages, Near the Edge of the Tribe, 1003 C.E. =**

Trixie rushed along very quickly, trying not to be sucked down into the cracks. Unfortunately, due to the thick fog around her, she found her hoof falling into something, crashing along the edges. The vapor was glowing brightly, and she realized that her luck was not presently as good as she thought.

She realized that she couldn't pull herself out. She could feel blood draining from the caught hoof, and in a panic, she shot a magic blast into the crack, hoping it would do something mildly helpful.

The crack broke slightly, freeing her hoof, but leaving it very weak and with a twisted ankle. She wondered why she was getting injured so much today alone. She grunted and left the tribe for the last time, never planning to go back, which she never would.

Trixie decided that there was only one other place that she could go on this planet. The observatory. Even though the bad guy happened to be there, she knew distinctly that there really wasn't anywhere else. She didn't really have any skill at teleportation, but she had done it once before in dire straits like this, so she was sure, if she focused enough, she might just be able to do it again. She began to focus as hard as she knew she actually could, and focused on propelling her whole body through infinity and reconstructing at that observatory. She focused hard as her horn began to spark…

…And when she opened her eyes again, she was right outside the door to the observatory. She sighed and walked up to it, opening the door, preparing herself for whatever might happen to her as she went through.

And nothing happened. Nothing at all, it was actually quite peaceful. No, not peaceful. That wasn't the right word. It was just empty. Almost eerily empty. She looked around and there was nopony there. The place seemed completely uninhabited at the moment. And it wasn't a very big place, anyway. There were a lot of rooms, but she wasn't expecting Mystery, as she remembered he was called, to be hiding. Not when he was doing was doing work…

So she was actually all alone here, the only one, but she decided not to let that bother her, as at least she wouldn't be attacked again for a while. She walked into one of the rooms, sitting down on the bed, looking around distrustfully, as if expecting the silence and emptiness around her to be broken in an instant by something that would kill her as she sat there.

She knew she was just being paranoid, and lay down on that bed, attempting to relax. But it was impossible. Every time she thought of the surreal circumstances she was in, she couldn't relax. It was unlikely that she ever would.

**=Rallies 366, The Jungles, Unknown Point in the Jungles, 1003 C.E. =**

The star being above hadn't spoken for a while, but there was a reason for this. It was invisible from the planet below, but there were two glowing lines leading from to the planet below. And at the end of the trail was the form of an alicorn.

It was a pale golden color, both its mane and its coat. Its eyes were a sharp orange color. This was the form of the star being.

It looked around, and then walked forward. But as it placed its hoof into the golden fog, it screamed.

It had stepped into one of the cracks. The body melted away, flowing down into the crack, and the being disappeared from the sky.

Where it had stood, there was only a glowing white light, like a beacon from the ground. And Mystery walked up and placed his hoof in the light.

"**EXCELLENT. NOW EVERYTHING WILL BE CONSUMED. EVERYTHING HAS ENTERED THE FINAL PHASE."**

It was Mystery. And now he was the star being.


	11. Chapter 10: Day of Armageddon

Chapter 10: Day of Armageddon

**=Rallies 366, The Jungles, Unknown Location in the Jungles, 1003 C.E. =**

"So, anyway, Puzzlehunt, the reason that you can't remember what was going on while you were transformed is because Mystery had already thought of that and wasn't going to let you have any of that information that could be used against him." The Doctor explained.

"Doctor, look at that!" Puzzlehunt yelled, almost panic stricken as he looked up into the sky.

"Yeah, I noticed that, but I was trying to tell you something here!" The doctor said irritably.

Puzzlehunt looked at him in utter disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me…" he muttered to himself.

Suddenly a large golden comet struck the planet a sizeable distance away from where they were, causing yet another earthquake as a large chunk of it disintegrated away into space.

"Now I think we can qualify this as bad enough to start running." The Doctor said calmly as they broke out into a panicked run in what they hoped was the direction of the observatory.

As they ran through the jungle without a word, several more comets struck the planet in the same area where he first one had stuck. They looked up, and, in disbelief, realized that Mystery in the form of the star being, was gone. Disappeared. And given its size, that was utterly impossible.

As they walked through the tree line, they realized they were finally back at the observatory. No major searching, they were just there.

And gave Puzzlehunt an incredibly uneasy feeling. Why was it so easy?

And they walked toward it.

**=Rallies 366, The Great Observatory, The Hallways, 1003 C.E. =**

It was the earthquakes that finally forced Trixie out of that room. She decided she was about as safe sitting there, waiting to be killed, as walking here, waiting to be killed. So she kept moving through the hallways in a ghostly manner. Not knowing what to do, not knowing what will save you, not knowing when that instantaneous moment of death would come and strike her faster than she could blink, all that leaves you in that kind of state.

And all of those things could be applied to her current state. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach, so to speak. Okay, she needed something to take her mind off the terrifying situation that stalled most of her thought processes, replacing them with the all too familiar words _I'm ABOUT TO DIE, _which was never a very pleasant thought.

As she attempted to purge the numbness in her bottom half, cursing the terrible terrible luck she had today, she thought more about the events of today, which had so far rolled right over her mercilessly. She wondered why she could never get a break, just once…

As she fell through a door that she had been leaning on, she once again realized that in yet another small insignificant way, she had been through yet another moment of misery, one that seemed, when put together, to be utterly inescapable…

As she looked up, she had no clue what to make of the police box that was standing before her.

On the other side of the observatory, The Doctor entered, leading Puzzlehunt along, knowing exactly where he was headed for, despite not telling his friend (for lack of a better word) where that was.

For such a small observatory, the maze like corridors made it seem much bigger. As they wound their way through them, with no way to find their way back, Puzzlehunt attempted to break the silence, in an attempt to hide his fear.

"So why do you think Mystery stopped attacking this planet?" he asked.

"Probably to start attacking your planet." The Doctor said bluntly.

The silence came back to stay.

They went through the corridors for a short while, and eventually finding the room the Doctor was looking for. He opened the door, and Puzzlehunt immediately realized the significance of where he had brought them.

Inside the room was the TARDIS.

"Hello Trixie." The Doctor said as he walked toward it. There wasn't much greeting in that moment.

The Doctor quickly and discreetly got out the TARDIS key, and began the incredibly difficult task of trying to insert it into the keyhole with hooves. This was in no way even a remotely easy task, and he dropped it several times.

Almost ten minutes later, he was able to turn the key and open the door. "Finally…" he muttered to himself as he went in alone to make sure everything was still working correctly.

"What's he doing?" Trixie asked.

"I really don't have the slightest idea." Puzzlehunt said honestly. "But I have a feeling he had better do it quickly."

"Well what's he doing in there?" Trixie asked.

For his own amusement, Puzzlehunt decided not to answer that one, at least not for a few minutes.

The Doctor came out. "Okay, lets go quick. I think I know what to do." He said.

"In there?" Trixie asked doubtfully.

Instead of arguing, he just grabbed them both and led them inside forcefully.

On seeing the inside, Trixie's mouth ran dry and she no longer had anything to say. After a brief few moments, she took a deep breath and said very calmly, "Well, let's go then."

The Doctor smiled and pressed the dematerialization lever, and the TARDIS shook as it took off. "I hope we get where we're headed." He said.

"Why, where are we going?" Trixie asked calmly.

"I've got no idea. That's why I hope we get there." The Doctor said as he pressed a button on the console. There was a brief spark, but then the time scanner opened so they could see where they were now.

And they were in space.

"So which direction are we headed?" Puzzlehunt asked.

"I'm not sure…" the Doctor began.

Suddenly a comet struck the TARDIS, spinning it around furiously for an incredibly tense moment. After a long moment though, it halted and resumed normal function.

"I'm guessing in that direction." The Doctor said.

But the TARDIS was now facing in a direction so that they can see on the scanner the planet they just left.

And beyond that, nothing.

"Our home planet is gone." Puzzlehunt said. "Mystery destroyed it."


	12. Chapter 11: The Armageddon Factor

Chapter 11: The Armageddon Factor

**=Outer Space, Somewhere in Between the Former Site of Gaia and Rallies 366, The TARDIS, TARDIS Console Room, 1003 C.E. =**

Most think that if they discovered their home planet had ceased to exist, they would fly into a horrified panic or some kind of angry fit. But it's so big to think about that you classify your feelings as being 'A bit upset.' Only when you think of some of the people that did die on that planet that you begin to realize the reality of it as a whole, and then you fly into a panic or rage, or some other kind of reaction.

Puzzlehunt and Trixie hadn't done that yet, so they just stared off into space as they stopped thinking altogether. Only when a thunderous crash banged through the console room did they come back to reality partially and realize what was going on, or rather, what the Doctor was doing.

He was piloting the TARDIS on a dive through space. It was Mystery. He had compressed his entire form down to the size of an alicorn, but the instability made comets of energy shoot out of his body almost perpetually. And they were heading directly at him.

"Um, Doctor?" Puzzlehunt asked. "Are we doing what it looks like you're doing?"

"Yes indeed." The Doctor said.

"Did it occur to you that we might die?" Puzzlehunt asked with remarkable calm.

"It certainly did." The Doctor said.

"Did it occur to you that we will very probably die?" Puzzlehunt said.

"I worked that one out." The Doctor said.

"Yet we're still headed in the general direction of death at a very fast speed." Puzzlehunt said blandly.

"That is correct." The Doctor said as they continued down.

Puzzlehunt sighed. Without warning, they made impact.

Puzzlehunt opened his eyes and looked around. He saw on the scanner that they seemed to be in some kind of photo negative world, a messed up photograph of the universe. Space was white and the stars were black. They appeared to have made it. And what made him so sure was that he was pretty sure that the universe didn't have an end to it, at least not where it was visible from here.

Yes, they seemed to be in the place where Mystery put the compressed parts of his body. He looked and saw…

Yes, there was Gaia, a warped black and white, preserved after it was consumed. He exhaled. He was really worried there for a second. No wait, his planet seemed to be disintegrating and coming back together at a worrisome pace. Panic engaged.

"We have to get it back." Trixie said, voicing his thoughts.

"I think I might know how." The Doctor said.

And they began to make their way through the space. They didn't know what the Doctor was looking for, but they would find it.

Then they saw it. Well, just barely. It was a star that was the color white. Which was what made it hard to see against the white space. The Doctor piloted them towards it. When they got close enough to it, he pressed a button and spoke into a microphone.

"Am I talking to the main intelligence of the entity that used to occupy this body?" He asked.

"**I AM POLARIA. WHILE CELESTIA IS THE SUN, AND LUNA IS THE MOON, I AM THE STARS. BUT I HAVE BEEN FORCED OUT. I WAS ROBBED OF MY ENERGY AND MYSTERY TOOK IT INTO HIMSELF." **

"It was when Puzzlehunt threw the amulet into the star, wasn't it? That's how you were born? The amulet burned up inside and the star became you." The Doctor said.

"**INDEED."** Was the reply.

"You still have a bit of that power to yourself you know. Perhaps enough to dispel Mystery from your body and take it back for yourself." The Doctor said.

"**I AM BEING LEECHED ALMOST CONTINUALLY. I DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH." **

"You didn't even try you know. You still have a chance. If you're going to take it." The Doctor said.

"**I WON'T BE ABLE TO. THE CENTRAL POWER HAS BEEN DEPLETED DRASTICALLY." **

"But this is still your body." The Doctor said. "The central power source is still the central power of this whole body.

There was a pause.

"Only a suggestion." And, in a knowing sort of way, the TARDIS dematerialized.

And with that, there was a small golden glow building up inside the white star.

Mystery realized that his physical body, which he was manifesting from Polaria, was beginning to collapse. And in that one second, he realized that his body was flickering and warping as he expanded back to the size of the star being, in a slow fashion. And suddenly, a crushing pain took him as he was forced out of the body, leaving him behind in space. He realized he was asphyxiating, he clutched at his throat. He looked back on his life for one second. And it was then that he realized his brother had truly come out on top. He stopped struggling and let his body dissolve.

And just like that, the star being broke up. All the stars that made it up flew expertly in a way that didn't hit any inhabited planets to the place they had already been before. Their correct place in this galaxy.

One of the stars pulled Rallies 366 into its orbit. The jungle planet was carried away into the infinity of space to wherever it was supposed to settle.

And Gaia reconstituted where it was before. It regained color, and its orbit started up again, as per usual. Nopony could tell the world of difference they had undergone.

And nopony could see the light golden alicorn galloping away into space.

**=The TARDIS, TARDIS Console Room, Time Unknown =**

"Well, we've landed." The Doctor said.

"And where have we landed? Have you managed to take us anywhere recognizable?" Trixie asked.

"Well, we left in quite a hurry, so I didn't plot any specific coordinates. We could be in any time or place in history, and yes, this is a time machine." The Doctor said.

"Well get us back!" Trixie demanded.

"I could take us back right now. Or, you could stay here in the TARDIS, and you can have the opportunity to go anywhere in time and space you want, and we can start right outside those doors right now, whenever that may be." The Doctor said.

Puzzlehunt and Trixie looked at each other unsurely, weighing all the options. They thought deeply. It was quite an important offer. Go home to their somewhat interesting but rather dull, mundane, and boring lives, or…

Trixie pressed a button on the console, and the doors whirred open.

To be continued in Episode 10


End file.
